


Mentoring

by hart051



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Magic, Mentor/Protégé
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:55:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25274263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hart051/pseuds/hart051
Summary: Zatanna is giving her new protege one of many magic lessons in her loft. Much to her surprise Traci had taken notice of a certain photo. One that is a bittersweet reminder.
Relationships: Traci Thurston & Zatanna Zatara
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1
Collections: Young Justice Bingo 2020





	Mentoring

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt "Zatanna Zatara". Interesting enough I was watching a video related to mentorship.

“Are you ready for our first lesson Traci?” Zatanna asked.

No response.

“Traci?” She prompted again.

Zatanna looks around in the room she had prepped for her new student, Traci Thurston. She was nowhere in sight. Zatanna sighed and proceeded to walk out of the room in search of her student. The League had brought this young girl to her attention. Apparently various events associated with bad luck had occurred in this girl’s presence, more specifically by her magic. Traci has a great deal of raw power and the application of her magic could come in hand during the covert missions the Team goes on, but she still has issues with control. Like any users who come into powers magic, meta-human and so on, emotions were the main trigger for these magical outbursts, excitement, anger, etc. Fortunately most of the magical outburst had been harmless minus a chemistry explosion that is.

Zatanna promptly finds protege. The young girl was by a bookshelf, not reading any of the books, but staring at a picture in a standing frame. The one Zatanna only looks at when she feels lonely.

“So this is where you were?”

Traci jumped and the picture frame hit the ground. A series of cracking sounds could be heard following the hit. Traci looked shamefully up at her mentor from the fallen picture.

“I’m so sorry!” The younger girl apologized immediately. “I know I shouldn’t be looking around-”

“It’s okay Traci, it’s just a picture.” Zatanna walked over to the young girl. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Traci replied.

Zatanna gave a reassuring smile and placed a firm hand on her protege’s shoulder. 

“I’ll clean this up.” She said to Traci using a calm but kind tone. “Meet me in the room. You can look, but don’t touch anything. And certainly no pictures.” She smiled mischievously at the last sentence.

Traci gave a small smile back and nodded. She hurried to the room while Zatanna examined the picture frame, picking it up. It was largely intact except for the glass cover. A few missing pieces and a series of cracks branching out from the impact. This was nothing for Zatanna the Stage Magician.

_ “Erotser ot souiverp etats.” _

And just like any spell the glass fixed itself. The pieces levitating back into place, the outlines of the fragments disappearing and the branching cracks disappearing like a reversing river flow. The picture frame was back to how it already was. Pristine like it was before, with just one diagonal crack. One that traveled between a father and a daughter. The frame was like this even before Traci spotted it. Zatanna suspected the crack in the picture was what caught Traci’s attention. 

She did not blame the young girl’s curiosity. Zatanna could have fixed the glass completely with her magic. It would be no huge feat and she could see the picture better, but she didn’t. It was one of many sad reminders. When she was fourteen a day or so after her father's sacrifice, in a fit of anguish she hurled the very picture at the wall of her new bedroom formerly in Mount Justice. She immediately regretted it and tried to fix it with magic, only leaving the very diagonal crack that adorns the glass pane of the frame.

* * *

After about an hour into the session, they took a break. Zatanna had made some chai and set a plate of biscotti out on a coffee table. As the older magician finished off a biscotti, she took note of her protege fidgeting. Traci ran her fingers over the mug of steaming chai and stared at the surface of the liquid as though she could divine the future.

“Is something on your mind?” Zatanna asked.

Traci raised her head up. Her gaze darted toward the picture, the furniture, anything that wasn’t her mentor. She briefly met Zatanna’s gaze, picked up a biscotti, dipped the snack in her drink, took a bite and chewed thoughtfully. She swallowed and asked. 

“Why was that crack there in the glass?” She sipped her drink. ”Couldn’t you fix it?”

“I don’t need to fix everything with magic.” Zatanna answered. _Not everything needs fixing._

“Still, I mean that picture...” Traci glanced back at it. “...is really nice.”

Zatanna followed Traci’s eyes and agreed. “It is.”

There was a brief pause before the talk resumed. Traci took a sip before resuming.

“I’m sorry.”

Zatanna blinked looking back at her protege. “Sorry for what exactly?”

“For snooping. I don’t know what happened to Zatara exactly, but for what it’s worth I am sorry.”

Zatanna took her protege’s apology with a sip of her tea. Considering.

“He’s Dr. Fate.” She said.

“What?” Traci had a look of disbelief painted on her face.

“During a mission I put on the Helmet of Fate to fight off Klarion. We won, but Nabu, the being in the Helm, wouldn't let me go. He only relented because of my dad. Zatara offered himself as a vessel to be the new Dr. Fate.” Zatanna explained. Traci would eventually learn this from the Team case files, but in that moment it felt right to tell the struggling magic user about her father.

Before Traci could utter the words again, Zatanna raised a hand to stop her. 

“He made a sacrifice, one I hope that does not repeat itself for anyone. But, I’m here as I am right now thanks to him. I know he’s proud of the woman I am becoming and my work as a hero.” She looked up at her protege and gave a strained but sincere smile. “And now I get to make sure you become the woman and hero you want to be by teaching you to control your powers.”

“Right.” Traci nodded.

She had listened to many accounts from her friends about their experiences mentoring and guiding young heroes. Some such as Dick taking up a more active role, especially with Tim. She had gotten a good idea of what the role will entail including her own experiences with her Dad before that fateful day and even helping new members adjust to their new lives while she was still with the Team. The League and senior members of the Team brought Traci Thurston to her attention. Being the only possible choice as a mentor besides Dr. Fate, who was not always available, accepted the role after meeting her during a performance. It is a role she takes with diligence, hoping to make her father proud when she gets to tell him about her and Traci herself in the future from having a wonderful mentor. 

**Author's Note:**

> \- The photo is a portrait shot of Zatara dressed in his finest magician wear with Zatanna in a similarly themed outfit at the age of fourteen or so, standing in front of him with her dad's hand on her shoulder.   
> \- This is all my guess as what Zatanna's and Traci's relationship is like. I tried to sat somewhat true to what had been depicted so far in the show.  
> \- I came up with the spell myself, following 'backward-nese' while keeping in mind the phrasing.  
> \- In case you were wondering the setting would be in Zatanna's own loft, probably in New York. Maybe her old home while she was living with her dad.


End file.
